Integrated domestic PE margins were assessed at 63.12 cents/lb ($1,392/tonne) for LDPE and 53.82 cents/lb for high density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding in the week that ended on 24 January. That represents a 3.44 cent/lb decrease on average for LDPE and HDPE, from a week earlier, using ethane as a feedstock.

Margins fell as ethane costs rose by 7.65 cents/gal to their highest level since August 2012. Co-product credits slipped by 1.2%, on slightly lower crude C4 values, while energy costs rose by 3.8%. Margins are at their weakest since the end of May 2013.

Co-product credits are the price at which products such as propylene, butadiene (BD) and benzene, which are made along with ethylene in the cracking process, can be sold.